Noel suffered the injury on Tuesday night against Florida when he attempted to stop a breakaway dunk by Mike Rosario, and it was immediately clear that something was horribly wrong. The towering freshman landed awkwardly, fell to the ground and began screaming in pain.

He had to be helped off the floor.

Although Florida already had the game in control at the time of the injury, Noel's absence was immediately felt for the Wildcats (via Yahoo! Sports' Pat Forde):

Since Noel went down, Florida has scored four baskets at or near the rim. No deterrent.

Who is most important in Noel's absence?

Willie Cauley-Stein

Alex Poythress

Kyle Wiltjer

Someone else

Fellow true freshman Willie Cauley-Stein is a big presence in the middle, averaging 1.7 swats per game, but he has nowhere near the instincts or explosiveness that Noel showcased on a nightly basis.

Alex Poythress and Kyle Wiltjer will also likely see an uptick in minutes, but Poythress' confidence has seemingly disappeared over the past few weeks and Wiltjer is a stretch-4 who struggles defensively.

Kentucky is 19th in America in points per possession allowed and 84th in rebound percentage, but the loss of what many thought was the future No. 1 draft pick will seriously hinder each of those aspects of the team's game.

Making the field of 68 just got a lot tougher for John Calipari and Co.